Race origins
=Troll/Elf Lineage Speculation= thumb|The lineage of the trolls Blizzard's history of Azeroth does not clearly state that night elves descended from trolls, but some evidence does suggest the possibility. Alternatively night elves may be descended from Elune herself as some legends state. Which would explain the exact physical features and appearance that they they share according to the official blizzard artistic represenations of Elune, dryads, night elves, and Keepers of the Grove share at least from the torso up. It is also possible that primitive race that lived near the well merely changed into her image by the magic they were exposed to. It should be said that the a few shared physical "similarites" is very general and should not be viewed as concrete evidence that trolls are related to night elves. For instance, pointed ears: elves, trolls, dryads, Cenarius, goblins (one could reason pointy ears are a trait among those native to Azeroth). According to Blizzard's representation of Elune (noting it is a Blizzard artist's official representation of what Elune's appearance is, as opposed to just one of the in-game night elf carved representions) , the night elves look exactly like her. According to Blizzard's recent troll compendium, it's up in the air as to if night elves are related to trolls or not, as there is simply not enough evidence to prove either way. There is much speculation about this theory, however. It is known as fact that first there was only the Zandalar tribe of trolls, which further evolved into the Ice, Sand, Dark, Forest and Jungle trolls as they spread across the Kalimdor supercontinent. It is said that from one of these variants night elves evolved, who then evolved further into the sub-races of high elves (from which came the blood elf faction) and through outside influences, satyrs, harpies, and naga. The satyr are the descendents of Kaldorei who allied directly with the Burning Legion during the first invasion. These former elves were taken by the demons and twisted into shapes that more accurately reflected their nature. Harpies are descended from female elves who betrayed Queen Azshara, Sorceress-Queen of Kalimdor, and were transformed into hideous bird-creatures as punishment, although there is some reference in the War of the Ancients books by Richard A. Knakk that implies that harpies descended from the demi-goddess Aviana. The high elves are a race descended from the Highborne night elves who left Kalimdor and settled in the Eastern Kingdoms, founding Quel'Thalas. When Quel'Thalas and at least 90% of the high elven race was destroyed by the Scourge, they split into two factions. Many changed their name to "blood elves" in remembrance of their fallen brethren, and would soon become close allies to the Naga. Others remained as high elves, disgusted by blood elven values. These stayed true to their old allies, the Alliance, and are scattered among various cities where they are a clear minority. When the Well of Eternity imploded, sundering the world many Highborne were trapped in the blast, however as their bodies were so infused with magic they did not die but were twisted by the powers they had released, influenced through the limited though still quite powerful will of the Old Gods, Azshara and her followers were dragged down beneath the raging sea, cursed – transformed – they took on new shapes and became the hateful serpentine Naga. Not all Highborne who were trapped and infused by magic became Naga, others were turned into Blood Maidens. See also: *Trolls and night elves? =The creations of the Titans= thumb|The creations of the [[Titans and their descendents.]] The Mountain Giants and the Sea Giants were crafted by the Titans when the world was young to protect Azeroth. When the Titans were shaping Azeroth, they created the Earthen. These beings of magical rock were meant to continue to shape Azeroth after the Titans left. After the Well of Eternity erupted the Earthen sealed themselves off in their cities. Centuries later, some of the Earthen of Uldaman awoke to find that they had changed. Their skin was soft and pink. They decided to leave to the surface, eventually finding the mountain of Khaz Modan which they claimed as their new home. Within Ironforge they made a great altar to their creator Titan Khaz'goroth. There are three known cities where the Titans made the Earthen: Uldum in Tanaris, Ulduar in the Storm Peaks, and Uldaman in the Badlands. The troggs, like the dwarves, are a mutation from the orignal earthen design, referenced by the disks of Norgannon. Although the troggs keep the physical toughness of their earthen heritage, they lose nearly all thought capacity and become dumb, short tempered and violent. The titans sealed these mutations away after realizing their uselessness to their cause. The Dwarves of Ironforge were originally of three clans: The Wildhammer Clan, the Bronzebeard Clan and the Dark Iron Clan, with the Ruling High King Modimus Anvilmar as the supreme leader. However, when the High King died with no heir, the Dwarves plunged into a civil war - the War of the Three Hammers. Eventually, the Bronzebeard Clan won and banished the other two clans from Ironforge. The Wildhammers accepted their fate and built the city of Grim Batol in the South Wetlands, eventually re-establishing their friendship with the Bronzebeards. The Dark Iron Clan, however, were less forgiving and retreated to Blackrock Spire to plan their revenge. Lead by the sorcerer-thane 'Emperor' Thaurissan and his wife Modgud, the Dark Iron Clan led a two-pronged attack against Ironforge, the Bronzebeard Clan, Grim Batol and the Wildhammer Clan. The battle at Ironforge was unsuccessful and the battle at Grim Batol had some margin of success but Modgud fell in the battle, so the Dark Iron Clan retreated to Blackrock Spire with Ironforge and Grim Batol following close after them. At Blackrock Spire Thaurissan attempted to summon a powerful fire elemental to smite the other Dwarves but instead freed Ragnaros the Firelord. Upon the Firelord's rebirth the area around the mountain exploded in an apocalyptic fire, devastating the surrounding land and making the Searing Gorge and the Burning Steppes. The Firelord took the Dark Iron Clan and made them his. The other Dwarves stopped before the explosion and fled, sealing the only entrance into the Searing Gorge from Loch Modan. There is speculation that the Flamewaker were once Dark Iron Dwarves transformed by the power of Ragnaros. The only evidance in support of this is the simliar serpintine Naga, who were once night elves transformed by the power of an old god (or perhaps Neptulon). It is not known exactly how the gnomes came into being, but it is said that they are cousins to the dwarves, but this may not have been literal. One theory of the gnomes heritage is that they were decended from the Titan's giants as the dwarves are decended from the Earthen. This theory is based on the similarity between the form of the Mountain Giants, Sea Giants, and gnomes. Though the giants are many times larger, they have a similarly stocky build to gnomes, with proportionally larger heads and only four fingers per hand. However there is no explanation of how such a drastic change in size would take place, nor a gain in intelligence, where as the dwarves are nearly the same size as earthen, and are also said to carry the same thought capacity (referenced from the Disks of Norgannon). There are also hints that humans may have descended from some dwarf faction. It could be possible that a faction of earthen left the mountains and grew taller in the open. This is implied in one of the War of the Ancients books where Rhonin is described as a tall dwarf, and catagorized by Night Elven scholars as a larger variation of dwarf. There is also some speculation that Humans may be the descendants of the Troggs, as the name "Trogg" is derived from the word "troglodyte," which describes members of a supposed prehistoric race that lived in caves or holes. Prehistoric humans, in real life, are referred to as troglodytes. However, by extension, "troglodyte" also describes anything that lives underground, and as such would describe Troggs, Dwarves, Earthen and Gnomes. ---- There is also a third theory regarding both humans and gnomes. This is that both races are native inhabitants of Azeroth, who came to be not by direct creation of the titans, but as a bi-product of thier work, such as Trolls and Tauren. There is evidence to support this, whereas both races are adept at controlling the innate magical energies of Azeroth, suggesting some kind of link between them and the primordial magic that Azeroth holds. Humans have also been stated to have had early tribal societies much like those of the early troll civilizations. Also the innate human ideology is much different from the Dwarves, furthering the difference between the two. Much of the gnomes physiology suggests that they are natural inhabitants of Azeroth's craggy peaks. Thier short stature might allow them to seek shelter in caves and crevasses too small for other creatures. Also their stocky torsoes, large noses, and shorter thinner limbs might indicate an adaption toward saving body heat to combat the cold climate of the mountains. The large brain could be attributed to the fact that many creatures who are smaller in size and lack natural defenses, must rely on planning and wit to survive. =Cenarius' Lineage= thumb|The lineage of Cenarius Richard A. Knaak's novel The Sundering stated that Ysera, the Dragon Aspect, was Malorne's lover and mother of Cenarius. Later, the author Richard A. Knaak clarified that Elune is Cenarius' biological mother, and Ysera is his adopted mother. Cenarius has many descendents, the Keepers of the Grove, the dryads, and the centaur. The origin of five centaur tribes(Gelkis, Maraudine, Kolkar, Magram, and Galak) is told by the spirit of Keeper Celebras at Maraudon in Desolace. Keeper Remulos, one of the sons of Cenarius, fathered Celebras and several dryads. Jealous of his brother's offspring, Zaetar mated with an Earth Elemental named Princess Theradras. From that unholy love were born the chaotic, misshapen centaurs. Another legend passed down by night elves, claims that centaurs are the children of one of Cenarius' first three children. According to this legend, Cenarious first three children, left unamed in the legend, the centaur, the dryad, and keeper of the grove. His bastard son, the centaur, turned on him in jealousy of his siblings beauty, and was forever punished by his father. The centaur left and his children formed tribes of centaur of their own, which may include the race Centaur (Eastern Kingdoms) found in the Eastern Kingdoms and the tribe Krenka. While some contend that Cenarius had only two sons, others argue that is not the case. See: Keepers of the Grove: Parentage and Centaur (Eastern Kingdoms). = The Evolution of the Aqir = thumb|The Evolution of the Aqir The Aqir were intelligent insectoids, created in the image of the Silithid by the Old God C'Thun, that ruled the lands of western Kalimdor during the time of the Amani and Gurubashi Empires. They were greatly expansionistic and incredibly evil. They fought against the trolls for thousands of years but were eventually defeated and split into two city-states: Azjol-Nerub and Ahn'Qiraj. The Nerubians are the descendants of the Aqir that fled to Azjol-Nerub. These spider-like humanoids reigned on the continent of Northrend until the War of the Spider, when they were tragically defeated by the Scourge and many were turned into undead Crypt Fiends. However, the Lich King was so impressed by their tenacity that he adopted their architecture for the Scourge, a silent tribute of sorts to the mighty warrior-race. There are still a few Nerubians on Northrend, waging guerilla warfare on the Scourge, but it is unknown whether this resistance has any kind of centrallized command. The Qiraji are the descendants that fled to Ahn'Qiraj. Unlike the Nerubians, the Qiraji evolved in many different ways, resulting in a caste system in their society. The Qiraji waged the War of the Shifting Sands against the Night Elves for many years before the elves, with the aid of the Bronze Dragonflight, trapped the Qiraji behind the Scarab Wall. Now, 1,000 years later, the Alliance and the Horde have reopened the Gates of Ahn'Qiraj to make sure the Qiraji don't rise up again. =Corrupted species= thumb|Some corrupted species Strong demons - the heroes of their kind - can corrupt individuals, tribes, or even whole species. While not all the corrupted species were created in this way, the majority were created by demons or the use of demonic magics. :Night Elves were turned into Satyr by the Burning Legion, and then by Xavius, first Satyr. They are transformed by will, unlike other corrupt races, by giving themselves over to the Legion for power. :Fel Orcs are created in much the same manner as Satyr, by a willful obediance to the Legion. They, however, are not transformed, only given a bloodrage unnatural to their race. This happens from the drinking of a Pit Lord's blood, or perhaps any demons blood. :The two-headed ogres were originally the elite guards of Gul'dan. He turned these ogres into ogre-magi using the High Elves runes at Caer Darrow by re-forming them into the Altar of Storms. He then used the altars to infuse the two-headed ogres (them being inherently slightly smarter than their one-headed brethren) with demonic energies enabling them to wield magics. :The Mur'gul are a tribe of Murloc from deep in the Maelstrom. Unlike their cousins, however, they were taken over by the empire of Nazjatar, the Naga. Either corrupted from their slavery, or their proximity to an Old God, they are now no longer the Murlocs they once were. :Corrupted Treants and Ancients are caused by the corruption in the land, created by the Burning Legion in their invasion. This changed not only the land, but nearly all inhabitants in it, as well. =Eredar Lineage Speculation= thumb|The Eredar Linage Hypothesis 1 Its unknown what the racial history is for the eredar is exactly. Some believe that both Lost Ones and Broken diverged directly from the draenei along seperate divergent paths. However there is some evidence that Akama's tribe went from the Lost One style to the Broken style from further corruption under Illidan, as is implied in their backstory. Additionally artwork posted by Blizzard, simply called "drae" implies that it may be possible for Draenei to mutate into Broken, and then mutate to Lost Ones. The charts are three versions that are currently speculated over by fans. It could be that the truth could be a combination of all 3 ideas, with Draenei with Broken physiology that mutate into the Lost Ones physiology. Some with Lost Ones physiology that mutate into Broken physilogy. While others mutate into Lost Ones physiology or Broken physiology directly from the uncorrupted draenei state. However as of right now not enough information exists to know what the truth is. =Evolution of Ogres= Supposedly, the Ogre race started as an offspring of the Seven Gronn, the giant Ogre Gods. The early Ogres looked like Ogre Lords, giant, cyclopean creatures with bony, calcified protrusions, smart and powerful. From these came regular Ogres, more humanoid in shape, two-eyed, smaller, not as smart, generally inferior to Ogre Lords. As the Ogres lived on the same world as the Orcs, a new race would appear that was the result of a union between the two races: the Mok'Nathal. The Mok'Nathal were powerful warriors and are revered amongst the Orcs, but shunned by the Ogres. The Gronn are angered by any Ogre half-breed, finding them an impurity in their bloodline. Another branch of the Ogres are the two-headed variety. These were created by the orc warlock Gul'dan. Two-headed ogres were held in high regard by their single-headed brethren, and often held positions of great importance, such as the tribe's Shaman. Also, due to the added intelligence of having two heads, the two-headed ogres have an easier time grasping and controlling magic. Category:Lore